AJ's

[Chad Carney]

I would like to here suggestions on how to spend less time and effort getting these guys on the boat.

Q,

Besides a great shot, proper equipment will make a huge difference in taking down AJs or other pelagics.

Although legal in federal waters, I'm not much into PHs, and you can't use them in tournaments/rodeos anyway.

A good reel on your gun can keep you safer by reducing the risk of entanglement greatly, whether freediving or on scuba.

Another way for accomplished scuba freeshafters...yeah, I said freeshafters... is to carry one or two side spears in shaft holders, the quick load type from Quiver or Spearfishing Specialties. With a freeshaft a good shooter can place a more accurate kill shot than all but the absolute best big line guns, and reload in a few brief seconds, then pump another shaft or two into the fish. It gets pretty tough for even the biggest AJ to swim away with 3 shafts hanging out one side of his head. If not DOA by that point, they kind of slowly circle like a jetski when you've fallen off. This technique works best around structure just off the bottom, and obviously you need decent visibility. I wait for a shot where the escape routes are mostly covered and I have a good chance of pinning the reef donkey quick if not stoning him outright.

Chad

(Readers, please don't give me the old "you shouldn't shoot a fish you have little chance of capturing" line. It would just show you've never been there and done that.)

 

[PatMyGreen]

I have just gotten into "free shafting" but haven't tried to take an AJ that way yet, soon perhaps. I do carry a side mounted spare shaft on my gun and have had to use to secure the occosional extra spunky Snapper/Grouper though. Two 60" steel protrusions slows them down pretty well even with poor shots.

 

[PatMyGreen]

Worms are just extra protein, I just pull them out of the meat. Red Grouper seem to have more than Gags, i wonder if thats from a more sedentary lifestyle, holing up inside the rocks and ledges?

 

[Chad Carney]

PMG,

Yeah, a red will eat whatever he finds by his house, even dead stuff. We had one eating rib bones the guys tossed after dinner in the Grounds. Found them in the guts later.
A gag will mostly kill what it eats, I think they pass on the garbage.

I did some freeshafting in Destin, got some nice ARS for Florida anyways. The key to freeshafting an AJ is the quality of the first shot, and start loading the second spear instantly, before you see the results of the first one. Ditto if you have 3 spears. Practice this until you are darned quick before you try it. (Not a bad idea to have a buddy standing by too.)
Don't try it on a bad shot or out over the blue water. Plan the attack to the terrain.
I'm not saying freeshafting is the best way, but we rarely have a line gun around when we see the one we want, especially for tournaments.
Ever since they changed the AJ limit from 3 to 1 we just don't go down there with a line gun and a reel very often. We're primarily targeting bottom fish. Same story with a cobia. Blaze away, you have a better chance than with an AJ.

Chad